There are plenty of stupid things you do on Facebook, but you probably wouldn't expect that being too private is one of them. There are actually real downsides to locking down your Facebook profile. It can hurt you in a job search or the quality of the search results for your name. Here's why.

Reluctantly or otherwise, Facebook is the place most of us have chosen to share our lives online.…
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Facebook can be a little scary when it comes to your privacy. It doesn't really have the greatest track record, and we've all heard stories about how prospective employers have found embarrassing photos and information that led to problems in the hiring process. When we hear about the downsides to sharing publicly, our instincts turn to paranoia. We want jobs. We don't want to be embarrassed. We want to survive online with our dignity intact. Those are all great goals, but completely locking down your Facebook profile is taking it too far. It can actually hurt you because you're not providing good information.

Over the weekend, Dave Winer wrote an article at Scripting.com explaining how Facebook keeps track…
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When You Post Nothing, Everyone Else Decides Who You Are

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You don't have control over what other people post about you. If you get drunk at a party and someone snaps a photo, it may end up online. Sure, you can untag yourself and try to control the possible damage from embarrassing stuff popping up, but there's really no way to stop it all. You may not have active tags on Facebook, but that doesn't mean that photo won't still exist and won't show up elsewhere. When people are constantly contributing information to Facebook, as well as other parts of the web, you're always stuck playing catch up if you're trying to control how others talk about you.

This is why you need to contribute public information. If you don't, you're providing no information about who you are. If you don't post anything, everyone else determines what you look like to a stranger who searches for your name. In a job search, this can be pretty problematic. The first results can be embarrassing. If you share a name with someone else, their results may come up instead. You put yourself at risk by not contributing positive information about yourself.

The Solution Is Simple: Publicly Post What You Want Others to See

It's fine to keep most of what you post on Facebook pretty private and only visible to the friends you want to see it. That said, if you want to look good in public you should be posting a few things that make you appear like the upstanding citizen you believe yourself to be. Share photos from fun family events, opinions about a gadget you really love or hate, and tame messages like regular birthday wishes. There are plenty of things you can share in public that don't reveal anything private but show that you're a good person. When a prospective employer "stumbles" upon your Facebook page, they'll see the good stuff you want to share and be more likely to miss out on the embarrassing stuff your friends (or enemies) may have lurking elsewhere online.

This can be easier said than done. Facebook has some pretty intimidating privacy settings, but we explain them all here. Be sure to read that guide if you don't know how to manage your privacy settings in a way that allows you to be selective about what is private and what you'll let the world see.